by Lila Felix
“I’m so proud of you Falcon, I am. But what good is money if there’s no one to spend it on?”
“Tell me about it.” We continued to chop until she shooed me out at midnight. I felt better, just talking to her about it. Nothing was solved but my chest didn’t feel as tight anymore.
I got home and decided to go over Dr. Glusman’s notes before heading to bed. He was a tricksy little snitch and he loved to give pop quizzes. Plus, I had nothing better to do. I lay in bed thinking of a legitimate way to spend my money and came up short. I was a runaway train. On a track to nowhere, no destination, no purpose. And wasn’t that just cheery?
Chapter 3
Falcon
Mondays were the only days that I didn’t have classes and so I spent the day getting a massage and taking a cooking class, along with a full manicure and pedicure. Plus, I brushed my unicorn. Ugh…
I spent the morning in my mom’s restaurant finalizing payroll for the week and then I packed up a to-go box and went to Nellie’s to work with her on the derby team’s finances. I walked through the front door, box in hand and Nellie spotted me from across the store and squealed and bounded over to meet me.
I put the box behind me and tilted my chin up in rebellion.
“No food until I am greeted properly.”
“Give me the damned food Falcon. How’s that for a greeting?”
“It sounds like a greeting from someone who can manage their own team’s finances.”
She squinted her eyes at me and I squinted mine right back.
“Oh dearest Falcon, brother-in-law supreme and all around heralded best friend, greetings from,” and she changed her voice from fine English proper princess to very angry derby girl, “the woman who is gonna kick your ass if you don’t hand over the Sylvia food now!” She finished it off with a killer smile and friendly-ish punch to my shoulder.
I handed it over and she hugged me. We walked together to the back office and she gave me a boot box filled with paperwork and I could see cash in there too along with checks and random receipts.
“What the hell?” I said and she whistled and looked at the ceiling.
“Yeah, you totally need me. When do you need this by?”
“Um,” She sat at her desk and cleared the paperwork to see her calendar. “We have fresh meat tryouts on Saturday so whoever makes it would need to get their registration and fees, plus their team uniform money in by the end of the month.”
“Ok, I will have it done by Saturday.”
“Sit Falcon.” She said.
“Ugh…my mom needs to keep her mouth shut.” I groaned.
“We love you Falcon. That’s all I wanted to tell you. Your parents, Owen and I, even crazy ass Maddox, we all love you.”
“I know. By the way, your new employee needs to sign paperwork and fill out some forms today. So let me know when he gets in.”
“He?” She said and looked confused.
“It said Reed Wolfe, I just thought it was a guy.”
“Do me a favor Falcon, go into the inventory room and tell me if you think that’s a guy.”
I got up and took the stupid boot box with me and walked the short distance to the inventory room. I saw Huxley stacking books on shelves and she gave me a tight smile. And then through books on the metal shelves, a flash of orange moved across my line of vision. “What in the name of…”
I turned the corner and got my first glimpse of what I would call not a guy, in fact, she was the opposite of male in every sense of the word. Long, milky white arms held a bundle of some kind of books and legs that went on for days and days. She wore ratty jeans and a light blue tank top and a pair of flip flops that looked like they had seen better days. And I wouldn’t dare say this out loud to anyone, but the girl had a million dollar ass. Seriously, the nicest backside I’d ever, ever seen. If I were an insurance agent, I’d insist she take out a policy on it. I cleared my throat hoping she would turn and God in heaven, please let her face match that body.
She flinched at the clearing of my throat, turned to face me and I slunk back the tiniest bit, overwhelmed and stricken with her beauty. What struck me first were her lips, full and plump, almost to the point of wondering if they were the product of some kind of allergic reaction. My gaze dashed north, and I gasped at her devastatingly beautiful eyes. They were green, but not an everyday green, more like moss green. She squirmed under my investigation and I shook my head to bring myself to the present.
“Um, hi, are you Reed? I’m Falcon, I’ve got some paperwork for you to sign. Would you mind following me?”
She put the books in her hand on one of the shelves and curtly nodded at me. She walked in front of me and to my surprise she smelled like apples. One would think that with orange hair she would smell like tangerines—weird.
I began to talk to her just as we passed Nellie’s office and purposefully threw my voice that way. “Sorry, but this paperwork was supposed to be completed BEFORE you start working.”
“Kiss my ass Falcon.” Nellie yelled from her office—mission complete.
I chucked the boot box on a chair and got out Reed’s file. I took out her paperwork and asked her for her driver’s license and social security card so I could copy them for Nellie’s records. She pulled them from a small wallet in her back pocket and when I came back she had only filled out her name.
“Is everything ok,” I asked.
“Um, Nellie said that she would help me, I mean I don’t really,” She blew out a breath and her bottom lip pouted out with it.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you and Nellie had an arrangement. Hold on.”
I walked to Nellie’s office and she was stuffing her face with my mom’s cheesecake. “Can you come here a sec?” I nodded my head towards my office.
She got up and followed me to my office where Reed now sat with her forehead on the desk in front of her. Nellie apparently knew what was going on immediately.
“Oh, Reed, I’m sorry, crap, I forgot. Falcon, can she use this address as her address since she’s about to move and doesn’t know her new address?” Nellie was the most pathetic liar in the history of all perjurers. Her left eye twitched a little bit when she lied. “Um, no, sorry, she can’t have the same address as the place of employment.”
Nellie turned her squinty eyes on me in challenge. And then they turned pleading, begging me to let it go.
“Look, I’ll just jot my address down and you can use it until we know your new one, ok? No big deal.” I got a sticky note and wrote my address down and placed it in front of Reed. She nodded and continued writing again. I mouthed to Nellie,
You will explain later.
She gave me a big, fake smile and a double thumbs-up and tip-toed out.
Reed finished filling out her paperwork, took her license and social security card and put them back in her tiny wallet.
“Is that everything you need?” Her voice was whispery and small.
“Yes, I think so. Do you want a paper check or do you want it direct deposited?”
“I don’t really have a bank account.”
“Ok, no problem. I can write you a check and then cash it here.”
“Thank you.” She got up and walked soundlessly back to the inventory room.
I picked up the sad looking boot box and went home. And as I worked through Nellie’s mess I thought about the orange haired beauty with no address and I swore that something happened in my chest when I heard her speak, so innocent, so—almost weary. The sensation was so powerful that I rubbed my chest with my fist, trying to soothe it.
The next week dragged out much like Dr. Glusman’s lectures. Family dinner night came with an announcement from Mom and Dad. They decided to renew their wedding vows in February. We were all very happy for them. It was no secret they were back together but I knew that Mom wanted to renew their vows, had wanted to for a while. And Dad? He would give Mom anything he thought would make her happy, including years ago when he left her because they were constantly fightin
g. He thought he was making her miserable.
I pulled Nellie aside as we cleaned up to grill her about Reed. She swore me to secrecy and then spilled her guts.
“So, from what she told me, which isn’t much, Reed’s parents died when she was eleven. Ever since then she’s been tossed around from foster home to foster home. Then when she turned eighteen? Poof, she was put out on her rear end with $200 and a ‘Have a nice life.’”
I popped my knuckles, a nervous habit, and thanked the man upstairs for my family and for a life which was pretty cush.
“So what about now? What’s the deal with her not having an address?”
Owen came through the kitchen door with a pile of dishes and winked at Nellie while she gathered her thoughts.
“I really don’t know Falcon. And honestly, I don’t think she wanted me to know what she told me, but I needed some reason to give a girl, who I know nothing about, a job. She’s also coming to the fresh meat tryouts. From what I hear, she’s the best freakin’ skater around.”
“Come on Hellie, everyone knows you’re the best.” I put my hands under my chin and batted my eyes, pulling a serious fangirl face.
“Shut it. Anyway, I am dying to see what she’s got on the rink. She’s been skating since she was a kid and she was one of the top skaters in the junior league where she’s from. So, since she just turned eighteen, she’s eligible for the Women’s Flat Track league now. I tried to ask her about college or school or whatever but she vaded me.”
“Huh,” The girl was a mystery, that part was certain.
“But she’s cute right?”
“But she’s cute right?” I mocked her.
“And she called you a stiff!” She held the counter for balance while she laughed.
“Nellie, leave him alone, the metal in his mouth has seeped into his brain.” Owen said as he hugged her from behind.
“You should talk, Magneto nips.”
“Boys, there’s plenty to do.” Mom passed by us and threw aprons our way.
“Sorry, Mom,” the three of us muttered and got to work cleaning up.
Chapter 4
Falcon
She called me a stiff? I think that’s worse than when Nellie calls me a square or a suit. I was a suit. And why in the Hell did I care if some girl called me a stiff? She could take her orange hair and stuff it up her… Oh, who was I kidding, I wanted to be her hairbrush.
I tried to forget about the girl who was obviously put off by me. The next Saturday morning I got dressed in a Nine Inch Nails t shirt, jeans and a pair of slip on Vans. I spiked my Mohawk up, grabbed the team’s paperwork and set out for Harvey’s.
The place was packed and even if you weren’t familiar with Derby you could tell the amateurs from the pros. One girl, who looked more clown than skater, lost her footing and did a backwards flapper dance before landing on her ass right in front of me. I reached out to help her up but she waved me away and said, “I think I’m just gonna stay here for a minute.” And then she laid her head down, schooled by eight wheels.
I walked over to the table labeled ‘Registration’ and Nellie and Amber were there already there, signing people up for try outs. Owen was off to the side talking to Dylan. I put a very neat, very organized file box next to Nellie and kissed her temple and walked over to Owen.
“Finally, another single man to scope out chicks with me. This one is so taken he can’t even see the sea of hotties we’re in.” Dylan said as he pointed to Owen.
I smiled a little at him. He was 25 years old and still acted like he was half my age. But then again, inside, I was more like 40. The three of us leaned against the barricade as Nellie got the party started. Owen laughed, “See that overly sweet smile she’s got?” I nodded in acknowledgement. “She’s about to kill their favorite puppy, so to speak.”
And did she ever. Seven girls, seven, puked before tryouts were even over. One left after the first falling demonstration, busting her nose open trying to imitate Nellie. And one girl crawled on her hands and knees out of the rink after one round of speed skating. But then there was Reed.
“Damn, Nellie said she was fast but I’ve never seen anything like her.” Nellie skated over and gave him the times written down on a sheet of paper so he could hold them for her. We both looked at Reed’s time and it blew the other girls’ times out of the water.
And she knew how to do everything. Nellie eventually pulled her from the fresh meat and had her start demonstrating falls and stops. She was magnificent and even if she wasn’t devastatingly beautiful, you just couldn’t take your eyes off of her. It was at that point that I knew, my earlier statement about forgetting about her was null and void.
Nellie announced that she was taking everyone still standing to eat at the pizza place down the street. And I didn’t miss that Reed looked uncomfortable. I saw her approach Nellie and tell her something, and Nellie shook her head and reached down to comfort Reed with her hand on her forearm. I got the file box and started towards my truck.
“Hey Falcon, you’re coming with, right?” I looked back to see Owen, Nellie, and Reed getting into Owen’s Bronco. Owen was the one who’d asked me.
“Um, yeah, I could eat.”
I followed them to the pizza place where the team usually ate and I sat directly across from Reed, purely on accident, of course.
Owen ordered twenty pizzas and Nellie complained that he only ordered enough for himself. Little groups talked amongst themselves. Reed ate hesitantly, and I wondered why. She was thin, a little too thin, and I wanted to give her an entire pizza and make sure she ate every bite. She shifted her eyes up at me at the thought and smiled, a faint ghost of a real smile but I’d take it.
Owen and Nellie were still starting out and paying off their student loans. I excused myself but circumvented the bathroom and went to the register. I paid for the team’s meal and gave the waitress a heavy tip. I went back to the table for only a few minutes and then said my goodbyes to Nellie, Owen and Reed. She gave me a tight lipped smile and a wave that she probably reserved for strangers and the mailman.
I got into my truck and before I could start it, I got a text message.
Nellie: Thanks bro.
Me: Welcome.
Owen called me Sunday morning and we went to the gym together. Afterwards we went to the diner where we met Nellie and Maddox. I couldn’t believe that Maddox was going to graduate high school this year. It seemed like yesterday I beat him up on the playground, at his bidding. He claimed it would get the attention of Amy Samuels. He was right. They stayed first grade boyfriend and girlfriend for three days. When they broke up, he blamed me for not beating him hard enough.
We parted ways after breakfast and I went to the Business library to study. The business majors had their own library. It was usually the quietest library and I got my best studying done there. I cracked open my Sociology book and began to study concepts that would never be used again in my life.
I took a break a few hours later and stood up to stretch. I walked to the glass windows and looked out. I stretched my arms over my head and moved my neck from left to right. And just as I’d resigned to resume studying I glimpsed a girl coming out of one of the dorm buildings. I would say I was mistaken, but how many orange haired girls are there on the Tulane campus?
I looked around and seeing no one close, I pulled out my phone and called Nellie.
“Hello?” She said and sounded busy.
“Hey, you said Reed isn’t in school right?”
“Ugh-huh, I knew you liked her.”
“Answer me, please.” I tried not to sound miffed.
“Um, I don’t really know. Why?”
“No reason,” I hung up, more confused than before I called.
If she didn’t give an address then there was no way she was in school. She probably had a boyfriend in one of those dorms. A girl like that? Yeah, that’s exactly what was going on.
I sat back down at the table and tried my damndest to study but all I could
concentrate on was her. Not to mention kicking myself for fantasizing about a girl who was taken.
I went home that night, defeated. I didn’t even know why I was so fixated on her. And the fact that some other guy was lucky enough to have her? It made something down inside of me ache.
Chapter 5
Falcon
The great thing about numbers is that they don’t lie. They never make you think they mean one thing but really mean another. And when you find the answer? It always makes sense. People are like that too, and if you stick a cut in salt it won’t hurt, promise.
There’s a big difference between ignoring someone and pretending to ignore someone. But for me, I am so lame that there isn’t much difference at all. When I try to ignore someone, I take it so far over the top that the person I am ignoring thinks I’m mad at them or that I have a stick up my ass. And then they end up making a big deal of it and usually by then I just roll my eyes and throw my hands in the air and give up. On a scale of one to ten for bad assness, I get a five. And that’s only because the tats, the piercings and the Mohawk give me three points.
So that’s what I did on Monday. I sat in the damned office which had to be located across from the door to the inventory room. And Reed just had to work in there. And she just had to walk by the doorway every five seconds strutting her stuff. And I just had to look.
I got up and shut the door, not willing to take it anymore. I focused on the numbers. When I finished, I left, through the front of the bookstore without looking back. The restaurant’s payroll and bills were current, so I didn’t have anything else to do for the day. I went to my apartment and intended to watch some TV but instead I must’ve fallen asleep on the couch. When I woke it was nine thirty at night and I was starving. I walked outside to my truck and got in and as I started it up I noticed something in the rearview mirror. Behind me was a beat up old 1980 something Toyota Corolla and inside was Reed.
What in the Hell is she doing?
I got out and walked the short distance to her car. As I approached, I could see that she was counting money from a wallet. I knocked on the window with the knuckle of my pointer finger and she jumped and she let out a scream that rivaled the girls from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She put her hand to her chest and heaved in breaths until she realized I was still standing there. She rolled down the window and I thought she was going to rip me a new one but instead she cleared her throat,
